In surgical operations which involve the catheterization of the heart of a patient, it is a common practice to insert a flexible wire through a vein or artery into the heart and then to use that wire to guide a catheter into the heart. In addition to the fact that each such guide wire must of course initially be sterilized, it is also considered most desirable that immediately prior to its use, the wire be immersed in a heparin solution because of its anti-clotting effect on the blood with which the wire comes in contact during use.
It has also been a standard practice that any such wire, which may be of quite considerable length, e.g. 5 feet, be temporarily stored in the operating room in a bowl which contains a supply of heparin solution and into which the wire may be inserted in coiled condition. Bowls of such size and a convenient depth, e.g. 3 inches, are of course readily obtainable, but it appears that heretofore, the art has not provided such a bowl which includes any specific provision for assuring that the coiled wire will be retained below the level of the heparin solution until it is to be used. More specifically, it is understood that difficulties have been encountered in the past with the coiled wire, which is somewhat springy, tending to expand its coils sufficiently to rise above the level of the solution, so that portions thereof may not only lose their coating of the heparin solution but may even become contaminated by exposure to the surrounding atmosphere.